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The FDA has issued a notice on its plan to better align the U.S. performance guidelines on medical lasers and other laser products with ones from the International Electrotechnical Commission. The proposal, which aims to lower the costs to manufacturers as well as help the FDA regulate laser products more effectively and better protect public health, is up for comment through Sept. 23.

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Studies have found that lasers and light-based devices might encourage wound healing, dermatologist Tania Phillips said at the annual meeting of the Canadian Dermatology Association. Phillips, director of the Dermatology Wound Clinic at Boston Medical Center, noted that sprays containing human allogeneic fibroblasts and keratinocytes have shown promise, as have bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

U.S. scientists have developed an imaging pen that they say could offer a new approach to identifying cancerous skin lesions. The technology involves the use of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy to image a lesion and perform readings in roughly five seconds. Pilot trials of the device are underway.

More young women than ever before are being treated for melanoma and other skin cancers, and the trend correlates with the rates of young women using tanning beds, experts say. Some states have banned indoor tanning for minors, and the FDA proposed requiring tanning beds to bear warning labels that use by minors is not recommended.

A proposed bill drawing bipartisan support in the Senate would establish a new pharmacy category, compounding manufacturers, that would have to register with the FDA and be overseen by the agency. The bill defines "compounding manufacturer" as a facility that generates sterile drugs and sells them across state lines in the absence of a prescription.